For every senior there comes a point where they are faced with decisions and choices about their future, from deciding to enter college or the workforce, or even matters of what to do with the spare time between studies and school activities.
For La Monte graduate Erin Pfeiffer, many of the decisions were made easier because of her strong family commitment and the love and support of her parents.
“My role models are my parents,” Pfeiffer said. “They have always pushed me to do my best no matter what the situation.
“I struggled on homework, a lot, but they always helped me through it and would try to help me understand it better,” Pfeiffer explained. “They are great people that work and successfully raised a child and I wish to do the same when I grow older.”
Many consider Pfeiffer to already be a role model for others including Superintendent Lacy Warren.
“Erin has been a model leader of the senior class,” Warren commented. “She was heavily involved in our FFA and ag programs and she served as an officer.
“She was also one of the few seniors who completed the A+ program,” Warren added. “She volunteers her time in the elementary classroom and she works hard to maintain her grades.”
Pfeiffer’s hard work paid off as she was named the salutatorian for her graduating class, but it took some time to realize the importance of her choices.
“The one regret I have from high school is messing around and not taking the classes I should have my freshman through junior years,” Pfeiffer reflected. “I took classes that I thought were fun and that I didn’t really need.
“If I didn’t do that, my senior year would have been a little easier and more laid back,” she added. “The biggest piece of advice I would offer is don’t wish time away.”
Pfeiffer explained that coming up on a student’s freshman year it may seem like their senior year is so far away, but in her words, it really isn’t.
“… You just wish you were out of school but it is going to go faster than you think, trust me,” Pfeiffer said. “And once you finally do graduate you are going to wish you could go back.
“So just take it day by day and enjoy it while it lasts,” she added. “Make the best out of it.”
Pfeiffer plans to follow her own advice this fall when she begins classes at State Fair Community College where she plans to major in nursing.
She will also be working as a certified nursing assistant at the Missouri Veteran’s Home in Warrensburg while attending SFCC.
“In my free time I help my dad and cousins on the farm,” Pfeiffer said. “I also love to hunt and fish and when my best friend and I both get time to meet up we enjoy hanging out.
“The fondest memories (of high school) I have are just all of the laughs I shared with my classmates,” she added. “We may not have hung out much outside of school but when we were inside those school walls a few of us were fairly close, we always made the best out of everything and were always laughing about something. That’s the one thing I’m going to miss the most.”
